Can You Really Consider Yourself Healthy?

You’ve read all the right books, you eat ‘clean’, you exercise daily, you’re probably either vegan or follow a keto diet, you take a plethora of supplements and powders, and you try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night...

- Vanessa De Ascencao

Many of us today have become more focused on creating a lifestyle that is conducive to holistic health and wellness, rather than simply chasing a better body. But in our pursuit to achieve optimal levels of health on all fronts, are we certain that what we’re doing is in fact healthy? What exactly defines true health? How do we live a holistic lifestyle and what does it really entail?

DEFINING HEALTH

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. (WHO, 1948. Jul 31, 2017)

This includes multifaceted elements such as fitness, nutrition and general wellness. Many of us mainly focus on the physical or aesthetic aspects. This means the majority of us generally engage in practices that aim to get us ‘in shape’.

Some take it a step further and also focus on the quality of our internal and external selves, with the way we look still a dominant factor. Then there are those who for ethical reasons choose to be vegan, or are more vigilant about the planet and humankind as a whole. In this way, we all have our own understanding of what being healthy means and therefore may follow different approaches to wellness.

My definition of health is more than likely different from yours and that’s okay. In general terms, there is no right or wrong definition as any step you take to feel better about yourself is a step towards improved health.

HOLISTIC APPROACH